Welcome Autumn

Center staff are on a much-needed break right now but we'll be back to work Tuesday October 8th, with a focus on preparing for the Columbus Day weekend retreat with Stew Glick (more information below). We'll also be finalizing the calendar for 2020, and finishing plans for a garage. Some work is continuing during the staff break. After several wet autumns, the field above the pond is dry enough to be rescued from brush. Les Schaffer is giving a hearty effort to mowing this and other fields with the tractor and brush hog.

The garage we're planning will be sheltering the tractor as well as the plow truck and riding mower—essential equipment to maintain the fields and trails. We'll be sending a mailing asking for support to make the garage happen, but if you'd like to contribute now, please use the "Donate" button below and choose the "Development" option.

We'll try to get the 2020 calendar up on the website as soon as it's finalized. Meanwhile, see the Calendar for retreats and events remaining in 2019.

Donate

Stew Glick

October 11-15 Meditation Retreat with Stew Glick

This retreat is almost, but a few spaces remain for full or part-time participants in shared rooms. Please contact reception before applying to be sure space is still available.

Stew spent many years on staff and now with his wife Lisa holds a weekly meditation/dialogue at his home in Rochester. Stew has this to say about the nature of meditative work:

"An important ingredient in meditative inquiry is this act of open listening. Listening, wondering and not knowing: this can all happen alone or together with like-minded people. Looking together with others has the opportunity wherein someone might point something out that we haven’t noticed or seen before. In the spirit of something Nisargadatta—an Indian teacher—once said, in an instance such as this . . .'What does it matter, who is who?!” What matters most is the looking itself—in which there is truly no ‘me’ and no ‘you’. Can we meet together in that spirit?”

See more information about Stew and the retreat. Use the button below to register.

October 21-22 Staff Retreat (Center closed to visitors)

As staff live and work together at close quarters, emotional and interpersonal issues may arise. A quiet weekend of sitting and dialoguing together helps staff communicate and relate with one another. Empathy and skill in communication on the part of staff is important, and felt by everyone who comes to take part in the Center's meditative work. We'll be open again to guests and volunteers on October 23.

Saturday November 2 All-Day Sitting

A day of meditation with a talk and dialogue group is a popular event here at the Center. Please contact reception soon to register if you wish to attend, especially if you would like to stay as a guest before or after the All-day. More information about All-Day Sittings.

Sandra Gonzalez

November 9-16 Retreat with Sandra Gonzalez

November is a wonderful time of year to enter into silence and meditation. Crisply cool days, lengthening starry nights—all of nature seems to be turning inward and dropping whatever is not essential.

There was a mention of interpersonal issues earlier in this update. In her article "Passion, Deep Interest, and Attention," Sandra describes working with interpersonal conflict and the state of imbalance created in mind and body. Then she goes into the effect of entering into retreat:

"So, the opportunity was there to explore the possibility of sustaining the attention that was really needed not to go back into the story. As the retreat started, there was a sudden shift from story-telling to sustained listening, which generated more energy of listening that began to enter into the body-mind, making thoughts more transparent, the body relaxing and restoring a sense of well being." Read the full article.

At present there is space for full and part-time participants in the retreat and single rooms are available. More information about Sandra and the retreat. Use the button below to register.

November 17-29 Quiet Weeks

The retreat with Sandra is followed by Quiet Weeks. The Center's day-to-day working life is modified to provide more quiet than usual. There are opportunities to meet with teachers, participate in the Center's daily work and meet with others in dialogue groups. Please contact reception if you would like to attend all or part of the Quiet Weeks. More information.

Attentiveness and cooperation: four guys installing a new brush hog blade.

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